Ash-handling equipment



June 28 9 1927 F. B. ALLEN ASH HANDLING EQUIPMENT Original Filed March 21. 1921 Patented June 28, 1927.

- nmrso STATE-s PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK B. ALLEN, or nowan mnmon 'rownsnrr, .uonreoxnny COUNTY, PEHNSYIr VANIA, ASSIGNOR TO ERANK H.

'ZDUNIEAB, OI CLEVELAND, OHIO.

i- Asa-mama murmur.

Original application filed March-'21,

My invention relates to apparatus for handling ash or other material having similar form; and apparatus for handling such material whether hot or cold. My invention is shown in connection with an ash'produc;

ing furnace. 1

Up to the present large power 1 tus. The larger the plant the' more serious and aggravated have the troubles arising from this source-of the plant become.

Almost any mediocreme'ans for'handling the ash of a small plantwill give reasonable 0 gether with the necessity of using water for cooling the ashes, the matter has become more and more serious and the deficiency of the old type of equipment has become more and more noted and accentuated. The problem that confronts the installer and the manufacturer of this type of equipment is not only a question of effectiveness in mechanism but'likewise a. question of cost of con- 'structiomand up-.to. the present time the combination of these two features has not been obtained as it has in the present invention. k

Until very recently, a boiler containing five thousand'square feet of heating surface, 35. for example, was called a 500 H. P. boiler. Today the same boiler is operated to produce 1000 to 1500. or even 2000 boiler H; P. To obtain thisresult, resort has been had to forced draft which incidentally produced to ash that is more difficult to handle than that produced without forced draft. The difliculty of handling'the .ash is further aggravatedby the increasing tendency to use coals of lower grade, and 15 further aggravated by the fact that whereas formerly the size of a boiler seldom exceeded 500 H. P., now

the are practically always between 1400 an 2500 H. P. v

The net result of all of these new condi- 5c tions,

, stallation about 3% tons of clean, disintegrated ashes had to be removed from a single time, the operators of' lants have been seriously effected by de ective ash controlling apparais that whereas formerly in a large in- 1921', Serial 10,454,321. Divided and this application flled hprfl 9,1930. Serial Io. 100,894.

boiler daily, toda from 20 to tons of clinkered ash,.hig ly heated,.must be han died from each boiler. When it is further considered that in a modern station there the difliculty'of handling the ash becomes apparent. v

.In meeting these 'conditions'and solving them, the inventor has produced the invention describedherein, among-the objects of which are the following:

To provide an ash hopper in which the sides diverge;

To provide a directly attached pp To rovide a hopper composed of spaced,

frame for the gate which is to the steel ribs' of the -depen 1n ribs carrying a gateframeatthe. thereof, the ribs serving as suplower en are providedjrom ten to twenty such boilers,

ports to which wall forming plates are secured To provide hopper parts which can be readily manufactured infsmall, easily handled parts and erected at the plant where they areto be used with the minimum of labor, time and effort; To provide a hopper construction in which cast iron and steel parts are used in such a manner as to obtain the benefit of'the ad.- vantages characteristic of each. material while avoiding the disadvantages;

To provide an improvedhopper and associate mechanism; I

To provide other details of improvement tending to increase the efliciency and. service- -ability of ahopper and associate mechanism of the above character.

To accomplish the foregoing and other useful ends, my invention comprises means hereinafter more fully. set forthand claimed.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 454,321, filed March 21, 1921.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View from below, partly in section, of one form'of hopper embodying my invention; and 1 Fig. 2 is a similar view from: above of a similar device.

Referring more in detail to'the drawings, it will be understood that the hoppers shown in Figs. 1 and 2,'for example, are associated type. These hoppers are aligned along the front of the grate, into which the ashes and clinkers from the furnace are collected. The hopper may terminate in a single gate or 1t may have more than one terminal. Each terminal is. provided with a gate frame in which there may beprovided one or more gates. Each hopper 1 is suspended from overhead supporting members 2 which, in v g the art that the steel r bs 3'a-nd 3 may be the figures are shown as constituting floor beams for the boiler house.' Each hopper 1 is preferably composed of a plurality of spaced ribs 3 secured at their upper ends to the members 2, as by riveting, bolting 'or any suitable means, anddepending from the members 2 in a more or less side by side arallel relationexcept at the corners of the hopper where, if desired, ribs 3- may be disposed at an angle/to the other ribs 3. At the lower ends of'the ribs 3' and 3 is carried a gate frame 4. Any suitable securing means,

ployed to secure the gate frame 4 to the lower endsof the ribs 3 and 3. Each frame 4: preferably comprises a rectangular frame of cast iron of suitable size and shape to surround the discharge opening 5 in the lower part of the hopper, and where two hopper discharge openings are disposed in side by side. position, vas is shown in the drawings, a gate frame 4 may be provided I for each opening.

Each frame 4:, as shown herein, is provided with a top, horizontal wall 7 which is secured to the ribs 3 and 3, a bottom, horizontal wall 8 and webs 9 connectingthe two walls. rollers 10 of a door 11 which constitutes the movable closure for the discharge opening 5. A cylinder 12 supported at one end of the door 11, and in the modification shown by the figures between two adjacent hoppers 1, is equipped with a piston (not shown) and a connectlng rod 13 which is secured to-a bracket 16 on the door by means of which parts the'door may be actuated into and out of open and closed position with respect to the'dischargeopening 5. The cylinder 12 is shown supported by a frame-work lIi-Jlllding side rails 14 which are secured to adjacent frames 4 and which constitute tracks for rollers 10 of the doors 11, and cross bars 15 to which the cylinder 12 is secured.

A sectional metal wall, composed of a plurality of similar plates 17, is disposed within and secured to the uprights 3 and 3. Each plate 17 may be assembled. independently of the other plates and secured to the ribs 3 and 3 many suitable manner, as b bolts, rivets'or the like. Each plate 17 has on its inner surface an inwardly projecting flange 18 upon which lining blocks 19, composed of refractory material, may rest.

The walls 8 serveas tracks for the These blocks areheld in position, as-shown disposed between the" adjacent rows of.

blocks 19. I I

It will be understood by those skilled-in readily fabricated by a steelmill, since they may conveniently consist of T-sections'; and, furthermore, that the wall plates '17 may readily be constructed of c'astiron. The assembly of the ribs 3, frames 4 and plates 17 may be carried out quickly witha few men and without extensivehoisting-equip ment or delay. The refractory blocks 19 and 19 may be assembled after the metal parts of the hopper are in position and may .be disassembled with a minimum of effort.- such as bolts, rivets or the like, may be em It'will also be understood bythose skilled in the art that I have provided load carrying parts of high tensile strength and com-.

posed of steel but have so;disposed thesesecond in importance to resistance-to corro-.

'sion. The plates 17 and the frames 4 are acid resistant and stillstrong enough to carry the loads imposed on them.

It will be understood from the'foregoing description and from the drawings, that I have a skeleton structure for a hopper in? cluding the overhead supporting members 2, the depending rib members 3 and 3, the gate' frame 4 and the wall plates 17.

It will be seen that I contemplate the pro- I vision of a hopper having a steel frame rsposed to contact within which I supportthe walls of the hopper. The steel ribs may be secured to the girders of the building or superstructure in any suitable. manner. In the old type of hopper in which the walls converge, the ashes and clinkers form an "arch that ob s'tructs the passage, of the ashes from the hopper into the car. The diverging walls, however, insure against this difficulty.

I have found that satisfactory results are obtained when all of the sides of the hopper are made to flare asthey approach y the lower mouth, but the hopper may be made so that one wall only slopes away from the opposite wall, in other words, 'I provide a hopper in which the area increases as the lower mouth is approache I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

I claim:

1. In a hopper having a discharge opening in its lower portion, in combination, a

comprising overhead supporting members, spaced ribs depending from said members, a gateframe carried by the said ribs at their lower ends, metal wall plates supported by the said skeleton structure and secured to the inside of the ribs, the said wall plates being composed of corrosion resistant material.

2. In hopper construction, in combination, a metallic skeleton structure for a hopper comprising overhead supporting members, spaced ribs depending from said members a gate frame carried by the said ribs at their lower ends, metal wall plates supported by the said skeleton structure and secured to the inside of the ribs, the said ribs being composed of material having relatively high tensile strength as compared with the material of the plates, the said ribs being disposed out of direct contact with acid liquids formed in the hopper.

3. In a hopper construction, in combinaition, adjacent hoppers each having a discharge opening in its lower portion, each hopper comprising overhead supporting members, depending members. secured at their upper ends thereto and carrying a gate frame at their lower ends, hopper Wall forming plates secured to the said depending members, and means including parallel track-for-ning rails disposed between and connected to the gate frames of two adjacent hoppers.

4:. In hopper construction, in combination, floor beams, ahopper suspended beneath and supported from the said floor beams, the said' hopper comprising spaced ribs secured at their upper ends to. the floor beams, a gate frame secured to thelower ends of the said ribs, and metal wall plates disposed within and secured to the said ribs. y

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature this 7th day of April, 1926.

FRANK B. ALLEN. 

